Seasickness: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment

Seasickness can still affect even experienced seafarers. In addition to patience, several measures can alleviate or prevent the symptoms of seasickness.

What is seasickness?

The so-called seasickness is actually not a disease in the strict sense, but more a healthy body reaction to an unaccustomed movement that the body experiences, for example, when traveling on a ship. Conceptually, however, seasickness is a form of motion sickness. People have different sensitivities to movement that can lead to seasickness: While much of the population shows an ‘average’ susceptibility to developing seasickness, there are minorities who each develop seasickness very quickly or very rarely. Infants and people older than 50 tend to react quite rarely with seasickness. Scientists believe that not only humans, but also various animals can develop symptoms of seasickness.

Causes

Among the causes of seasickness, for example, is the fact that the brain receives conflicting information from the body: For example, if the waves cannot be observed with the eyes during a boat ride, the brain cannot interpret the movement messages from the vestibular organ. Another factor contributing to seasickness is that, despite registered movements, no activity signal from the muscles reaches the brain. The conflicting messages are eventually interpreted as a dangerous situation and the symptoms of seasickness occur due to a release of stress hormones. Symptoms of seasickness can be caused not only by real situations, but also by appropriately designed movie shows or computer games. One reason that infants usually do not develop seasickness is that the organ of equilibrium is not yet fully mature.

Symptoms, complaints and signs

Seasickness includes many different symptoms that may vary in individual cases. Typical signs include dizziness and nausea, which can lead to vomiting. As a result, electrolyte imbalances and dehydration are possible. In most cases, however, these symptoms of seasickness are not life-threateningly severe. Sometimes the sight or smell of food increases nausea. Heartburn or lack of appetite may also occur. People who suffer from seasickness sometimes have intestinal problems. Digestive activity often decreases, which can result in constipation. Sufferers may feel fatigued and tired with seasickness. Sleepiness may extend to lethargy. Pallor and headache are also common symptoms of seasickness. Severe circulatory problems, on the other hand, rarely occur. People who suffer from seasickness often sweat. They may also shiver or tremble. The various symptoms sometimes lead to motor unsteadiness, temporary gait disturbances or balance problems. Psychological symptoms are common in seasickness. They include dejection, emotional numbness, difficulty concentrating, and motivational problems. Depressed mood or general listlessness are also possible. Some sufferers also have the impression that they perceive their surroundings as if muffled by absorbent cotton or fog.

Diagnosis and course

It is often the case that the symptoms of seasickness diminish after exposure to the unfamiliar movements over a period of several days. Now, the likelihood of showing renewed symptoms of seasickness during further exposure also decreases. Seafarers may suddenly develop symptoms of seasickness after years without seasickness. Other seafarers show symptoms again on every sea voyage. To diagnose seasickness is based on the typical symptoms of nausea, vomiting, or dizziness that occur while an affected person finds himself in a motion situation similar to a situation on a ship in waves.

Complications

Seasickness results from the eyes and the organ of balance in the inner ear receiving opposing sensory perceptions that the brain must process. The brain responds to this form of stress with neurotransmitters such as histamine and serotonin. The histamine stimulates the vomiting center in the brain, which ultimately triggers the symptoms of seasickness.Normally, the accompanying symptoms subside by themselves after a few days without any complications. In some cases, however, the typical symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, nausea and diarrhea persist throughout the entire voyage. People who experience severe and long-lasting symptoms may have to terminate a sea voyage prematurely. Extremely severe nausea and severe diarrhea that lasts for days may also result in significant weight loss and circulatory problems. Sufferers then feel weakened for days after the symptoms have subsided. For patients who suffer from cardiovascular disease or are already physically weakened for other reasons, the excessive loss of fluid from constant vomiting or diarrhea can even be life-threatening. It is imperative that these sufferers receive medical attention. For patients suffering from migraine, seasickness can also trigger an acute attack. Whereby it must be expected that the migraine attack is then significantly more severe than under normal conditions.

When should you go to the doctor?

In the case of seasickness, it is not always necessary to see a doctor. A visit to the doctor is usually only necessary when the affected person suffers from very severe and serious symptoms. In this case, most sufferers experience very loud and heavy snoring, so that the partner’s quality of life is also negatively affected. A doctor should be consulted if the patient snores loudly and suffers from disorders of the heart or concentration. Erectile dysfunction or general sexual disinhibition can also be a clear indication of the disease and should also be examined and treated by a doctor. A doctor should also be consulted if the patient suffers from severe heartburn or dizziness. In the case of seasickness, the family doctor can be consulted. However, further treatment depends largely on the exact nature and severity of the symptoms, so this is usually carried out by another specialist.

Treatment and therapy

There are several approaches to treat seasickness. First, some behavioral measures are available that can reduce seasickness: For example, the first recommendation is to go above deck when traveling by ship and not stay inside. To combat the symptoms of seasickness, one should ideally adapt to the movements of the ship when on deck. It is convenient to fix a certain point on the horizon. The use of relaxation techniques can also help with seasickness. If the symptoms of seasickness are already severe, it can be helpful to lie flat in a place on the ship where comparatively little ship motion is felt. Studies have shown that placebos (remedies that do not contain any active ingredients, but the user assumes they do) have good success with seasickness. This mechanism of action is presumably due, among other things, to the fact that the affected person is relieved of the fear of continuing to suffer from seasickness. This decrease in fear then has a positive effect on the symptoms of seasickness. Finally, there are medications (both prescription and over-the-counter) for severe seasickness. If a sufferer is already vomiting, a suppository form may be the appropriate one in this case. Possible side effects of corresponding drugs are fatigue or a decrease in responsiveness.

Prevention

To prevent seasickness, there are also possible behavioral measures and (if susceptibility is known) medications (for example, in the form of depot patches). At the behavioral level, for example, it is recommended to eat mainly easy-to-digest foods the evening before a cruise. Coffee, alcohol and nicotine should also be consumed only to a limited extent shortly before and during a ship voyage.

Aftercare

Because true seasickness is not curable in most cases, there can be no true aftercare for it. Once the patient is back on land, the symptoms usually subside again within a short time. At the very beginning, when there are still some problems, only light food should be enjoyed or, even better, only herbal tea should be drunk. In this way, recovery is guaranteed the fastest.Particularly if stomach emptying occurred on board due to the rocking motion of the ship, the seasick person must drink a lot to provide the body with important lost salts and sufficient fluids. If possible, ship travel should be avoided in the future. As a rule, however, river cruises are much calmer, which is why seasickness cannot occur here in the first place. Short trips can be used to find out how tolerable such a river cruise is. If, after all, a trip on the open sea is planned again, waters or seasons should be chosen in which there is no risk of strong turbulence. In any case, it is very helpful to obtain suitable seasickness medication for prevention from the pharmacy right before the start of the trip.

What you can do yourself

Seasickness is often well amenable to self-help in everyday life. There are some means with which you can prevent the appearance or at least significantly alleviate its severity. These are briefly described below. Seasickness is closely related to our organ of equilibrium and our senses. Just looking at a surging sea can trigger it. Therefore, patints with appropriate disposition can move to an inside cabin on a large ship, which can eliminate this cause. With stormy sea this can be visited then preferentially. Empty stomach is often unfavorable with regard to seasickness. Patients suffering from this condition are best advised to always have something in their stomachs that is easy to digest. Also, make sure to drink enough, especially if vomiting could not be avoided. Alcohol and nicotine can aggravate seasickness and should be significantly reduced or not consumed at all. There are a number of naturopathic methods that can be effective for seasickness. Often a vesuch with acupuncture is worthwhile. On the ship itself, globules or other homeopathic remedies can be taken for seasickness. These are also good for children. Relaxation techniques or yoga can also become very efficient helpers for seasickness.